Northern suicides 'big priority' for Sask's new children's advocate

As the province reels from six recent suicides in the north, Saskatchewan's new children's advocate began his first day on the job by saying he'll make the safety of youth on First Nations and in northern communities a "big priority."

As the province reels from six recent suicides in the north, Saskatchewan’s new children’s advocate began his first day on the job by saying he’ll make the safety of youth on First Nations and in northern communities a “big priority.”

A member of the Key First Nation, O’Soup said he’ll travel north to meet with community members and youth “as soon as possible.” He said the inclusion of First Nations leaders and youth is critical to developing immediate and long-term solutions to the crisis after six girls took their own lives.

“The only way that we can do it properly is to include us at the table right from the beginning and to be a part of the creation of policies, of programs, of documents (and) interventions,” he said.

“Without our input and without our voice, it is not truly authentic engagement. How can you create something for a people without having them at the table? You’re setting yourself up for failure.”

O’Soup said his office has had “beginning discussions” about compiling a special report on suicides and mental health in the north.

Supports from First Nations and the provincial and federal governments have poured into that part of the province.

Saskatchewan Speaker Corey Tochor (L) shakes hands with the province’s new Advocate for Children and Youth Corey O’Soup. O’Soup is from the Key First Nation.Don Healy /
Regina Leader-Post

The most recent death, a girl under the age of 14, happened in La Ronge on Sunday. Five other girls between the ages of 10 and 14 from the communities of La Ronge, Stanley Mission, Deschambault Lake and Loon Lake have committed suicide since Oct. 4.

Lac La Ronge Indian Band Chief Tammy Cook-Searson said community leaders are working with the Red Cross to develop a community safety plan that would involve hiring two youth workers in each of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band’s six communities.

Alongside offering suicide prevention training to parents, schools and the community, the youth workers will also help create activities and programs tailored to meet the different needs of the community, she said. The plan, which has been forwarded to Health Canada, also includes stronger links to elders and traditional Woodland Cree culture.

“We need to reach out to our elders too, and our youth, to help us during this time and all of our community members, because we need to develop this capacity in our community and we need to all pull together,” she said, noting rapid-response teams are also on call.

Cook-Searson said her community is “more than willing to work” with O’Soup and other government agencies towards a solution.

Chief of Lac La Ronge Indian Band Tammy Cook-Searson stands for a photograph at the Lac La Ronge Indian Band office in Stanley Mission, SK on Thursday, October 13, 2016.Liam Richards /
Liam Richards

Wall said “everything is on the table,” and he and his cabinet have been discussing how to address the suicide crisis. One idea has been to bring self-esteem workshops offered in southern Saskatchewan to the north.

“It’s an all-of-the-above approach we need to take this on, because we just can’t afford to lose any young girls or any young people, period, to this,” he said, noting the crisis has the “undivided attention” of northern leaders, health regions and the provincial government.

Dr. Caroline Tait, co-leader of the First Peoples First Person Indigenous Hub with the Canadian Depression Research and Intervention Network, said self-esteem workshops are an example of programs developed without proper First Nations consultation, as the concept of self-esteem may have a different meaning or may not exist in the Cree and Dene languages.

Pointing to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation — which closed in 2014 due to lack of funds from the Conservative federal government — as an example of how programs can fall apart during a change of power, she said commitments need to go beyond party politics.

“We need governments and political parties to come together and agree that this isn’t a political issue, that it’s a moral issue,” she said, noting First Nations communities should lead the conversation on solutions as opposed to government-first ideas.

“If we’re talking about Saskatchewan we need the political parties to come together and whatever investment is needed, it has to be an investment that looks somewhere between 10 to 20 years,” she said, adding that an investment that can be redesigned or cut due to a change in government “will not work.”

In a news release on Tuesday, the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations said while its executive has not received direction to support a call for a state of emergency, it has started planning for a youth suicide prevention gathering to develop a First Nation-driven response to trauma faced by the communities.

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